Anne Perry specializes in historical mysteries set in England in the Victorian period. She explores the dramatic contrasts in Victorian society between its oppositions of rich and poor, public and private, and respectability and disgrace. Her choice of period provides an ideal setting to explore the contrast between illusion and reality at the heart of the mystery story. In her two series Perry features investigative teams composed of a professional male and an amateur female detective who pursue solutions to crimes in different but complementary ways. Her first mystery novel, The Cater Street Hangman (1979), begins the series of twenty- two novels featuring the husband-and-wife team of Inspector Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. The Face of a Stranger, published in 1990, initiates the Inspector Monk and Hester Latterly series, which includes eleven additional titles. In both series the upper-class status of the women and the professional contacts of their working-class husbands...